A variety of structures such as pole barns are constructed using corrugated steel or fiberglass as the roofing and/or siding material. In a number of these structures, the corrugated material is affixed to the underlying wood frame with roofing nails. Over time, the once firmly seated nails loosen, creating a gap between the nail and the corrugated material significant to allow water to seep through. As a result, the wood frame close to the loosened nail can rot and weaken. In severe cases, an active drip occurs.
To correct this problem, caulking is sometimes applied around the exterior of the nail, but such action is usually only temporary. The loosened nail may be pounded back into place, but its loosening is usually with respect to the underlying wood frame and, once loosened, the nail will soon unseat itself again and allow the leakage to reoccur. More typically, the nails are removed and replaced with a longer nail or a nail with a rubber gasket or seal. In other instances, the loosened nail is replaced with a screw, with or without a gasket, which is much less likely to later loosen and permit a leak.
In each of these cases, the loosened nail must first be removed, and such removal is typically done with a conventional tool such as a claw hammer, small wrecking bar, tack puller or pliers. In some instances, each of these tools may pull the problem nail without difficulty. On many occasions, however, any one or all of these tools will fail to adequately grip the nail, the head of which may then bend or break off, leaving a deformed nail that is now even more difficult to remove. On still other occasions, the underlying corrugated material has become somewhat brittle, especially after years of exposure to extreme weather conditions. As a result, use of one of these conventional tools will often crack or deform the corrugated material, thus creating a bigger hole or worse leak than before.
What is needed is a device for facilitating the extraction of roofing nails and the like from a material, particularly corrugated steel or fiberglass, which minimizes the risk of damage to such material.